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Monday, August 26, 2013

Don't Yuck My Duck

A week ago, if you’d asked me about Duck Dynasty I would
have shared my canned opinion on reality television. In fact, I’ll share it
now; I hate it. The writer in me longs for old-fashioned story-telling: the
kind with well-developed characters and a stimulating plot, with rising and
falling action, and a setting that leaps off the screen. But this was all
before I sat down last week and watched three straight hours of sweet tea
swillin’, duck killin’, good ole boy shenanigans and hijinks. Now, it’s safe to
say I’m a changed woman.

Duck Dynasty pleasantly surprised me. I won’t lie and say
that I would have ever thought a show (which I assumed was) about a bunch of
bearded guys making duck calls would be my kind of show, but life’s full of
surprises. I don’t know exactly what it is that won me over. Maybe it was the
way Si charms the ladies or the way the boys in the warehouse are constantly
getting out of work or the way Phil delivers a line, Jack. Maybe it’s all of
it. Maybe it’s refreshing to watch a show with family values and good, clean
laughs. Maybe it just makes me happy, happy, happy. Whatever it is, the spell
has been cast. I’m a non-believer no more.

I feel kind of bad now though. For all the times, I
dismissed the show. For all the times, I crinkled up my nose when it was
mentioned. For all the times, I thought, who would want to watch a show like
that? It’s just another reality show, another Jersey Shore or Keeping Up with
the Kardashians. Another, dare I say, Honey Boo Boo? Gasp!

But at the end of the day, what’s wrong with any of these
shows? What’s wrong with reality television for that matter? Other than the
fact that I just don’t happen to care for it myself. If I gave it half a
chance, a chance like I gave Duck Dynasty, who knows? I might just like it
after all.

I try to live life with an open mind. I would hate to miss anything
in life because of my own misconceptions or stubbornness, but even in trying to
do the right thing and live the right way, I often mess up. I often yuck other people’s
yums.

What do I mean by yucking a yum? Well, back in March, Jeremy
and I were watching television, which for us means hulu, Netflix, and lots of
random web series on youTube. One of the random web series we watch is by a
very insightful comedian named Ze Frank. Ze did a video on yucking yums, and
since then, I’ve tried to be more aware of my interaction with others,
particularly when it comes to something they love.

For some unknown reason, when we hear that someone we know
is listening to a band, reading a book, doing an activity, or watching a TV
show that we don’t happen to like, we jump on an opportunity to yuck their yum.
We criticize them for watching something so silly, stupid, outdated, “insert
your worst insult here.” Even when we know that that thing brings them great
joy, we make it a point to share why we don’t think they should like it
anymore. I did this every time I rolled my eyes at someone for watching Duck
Dynasty.

“You don’t watch that,
do you?”

Well, what if they do? Why does it matter? If the yum is
harmless, what harm could possibly come from its enjoyment? Ze Frank reminds us
to not steal someone else’s joy just because we might not have the same tastes,
and I’m here to remind myself to not dismiss these yums quite so easily.
Because someone else’s yum, which I may think of as a yuck, may eventually be
my own yum and source of happy, happy, happy.